This is for academic purpose only

1. Features of Malaysian English
(ME) Used in FLY.FM
Afiqah Binti Abd Aziz
Melor Md Yunus

2. BACKGROUND
Lee (2001), condemned that Malaysian English (ME) had been
often been called as a distinct variety of the English
language.
In a most recent study by Kachru and Nelson (2006), in a most
recent study and coming perspective, have found that from
their perspective, even though the perception of English
remains that of a foreign language in multilingual and
ethnically plural countries such as Malaysia, it is gradually
becoming the language of social interaction yet again.
A question is naturally raised from this situation: “Do students
still care about learning and speaking correct English?
Thus, this research is out to find the features of the language
and to what extent this deviance from Standard English is
practiced.

3. REVIEW OF LITERATURE
1. MEDIA DISCOURSE
• Montgomery (2007) discussed the discourse analysis from the linguistic
approach. Discourse from this perspective is a discrete level of linguistic
organization similar to sound patterning or sentence structure (2007: 22).
In this study, the domain is a radio station involving the conversations in the
radio station. Media discourse, on the surface fits the dyadic model of
speakers and listeners and the involved persons are the deejays (speakers)
and the caller (the hearers) (O’Keeffe: 2006). In this case, the roles of both
sides can be seen through radio-phone and the conversation between the
deejays themselves.
2. ABBREVIATION
• Rowe (2003) have seen a creation in the use of abbreviations and
acronyms (specific form of an abbreviation created with initial letters of
words and pronounced as one word).
• V.A Muniandy (2001) found out that the use ofshort-forms and contractions
in chatting are prevalent. The main reason for utilizing these is similar as
the use of short forms in e-mails that is to save time.

4. 4
3. LOCAL PAST STUDIES OF MALAYSIAN ENGLISH
•Rosmawan binti Mohamad (2006) in her study has analyzed the level of ME
that spoken during the conversation and described the type of language being
used in the conversation in the radio programme. It identified and determined
the level of Malaysian speakers namely acrolect, mesolect and besilect.
Besides, the researcher also compared syntactical features of ME with the
Standard British English in a local radio station.
•Zulaila binti Ali (2007) has studied about 'The use of code-switching in four
selected local radio advertisements'. Her study analyzed the phenomenon of
code-switching used in the selected radio advertisements by using a few
theories. Her study done to know the functions and types of code-switching
where the researcher determines the reasons of code- switching in the
advertisements. Methodology used was discourse analysis because it only
focused on the study of language in sociolinguistics.
•Anabella (2008) in her study 'An analysis of the use of ME and its sub-
varities in radio advertisements' examined and analyzed the use of sub-
varieties of ME in radio advertisements. Method used was qualitative and
conducted a document analysis.

5. RESEARCH QUESTIONS
a) What are the features of Malaysian
English (ME)?
b) What are the reasons the deejay(s)
and the callers use ME in the
conversation?

6. 6
METHODOLOGY
Research Design
Qualitative Method
Samples
Radio deejays and a number of callers
Instruments
Audio recording
Data Analysis
Analyze data according to three main processes of simplification in ME:
Fillers- lah
abbreviations
code switching
Duration of the data collection
All the data had been collected for about 8 weeks.

7. METHODOLOGYData Collection Procedure
Selection of the radio station
Selection of the show - 'Pagi Show'
Listening to the conversations in
'Pagi Show'
Recording the conversation
Transcribing the data
Analyzing the data

8. Findings
Fillers-lah
Examples:
• Come on lah…it has been so many years lah...
• I quit my job in advertising and now in this lah…
• I don’t have the intention to scold you lah…
Code-switching
Examples:
• I like to dengar to your voice…
• You know what, ade seorang girl…
• She is very good…but always sakit jer…
Abbreviation
the usage of abbreviation is relatively frequent in the conversation in chatting. The
frequency of abbreviation in the chatting and conversation is also depending on
the reason for the participants to code switch.
Examples:
SMS: Short Message Services
DJ: Disc Jockey
KL: Kuala Lumpur

9. Implications
EducatorsMalaysian Youths

10. Conclusion
This study has found that ME is used widely in
Fly.Fm. The features of filler-lah, code
switching, and abbreviation had been analyzed
and discussed in this part. In terms of lexis,
the data has shown that Malaysians code-
switched according to the context.